People: K+S AG (SDFGn.DE)

Dr. Ralf Bethke has been Chairman of the Supervisory Board and Shareholder Representative at K+S AG since May 14, 2008. Additionally, he acts as Chairman of the Mediation, Nomination as well as Personnel Committees, and Member of the Audit Committee at the Company. He has been Member of the Supervisory Board at K+S AG since July 1, 2007. He also occupies the position of Chairman of the Supervisory Board at Dr. Jens Ehrhardt Kapital AG. Previously, he was Chairman of the Executive Board of the Company. He also serves as Vice Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Benteler International AG, and Member of the Supervisory Board of Suedzucker AG and Sueddeutsche Zuckerruebenverwaltungs-Genossenschaft EG. He joined BASF AG in 1972, where he held various sales and marketing positions in the fertilizer division. In 1978, he was appointed to the Board of Executive Directors of Chemag AG in Frankfurt, Germany, assuming responsibility for sales and marketing of chemicals, finance, personnel and administration. In 1984, he returned to BASF headquarters as head of the intermediate products marketing department. In May 1990, he was appointed to the Board of Executive Directors of Kali und Salz AG, where his first post was that of head of the sales and marketing division. One year later, on July 1, 1991, Dr. Bethke became Chairman of the Executive Board of Kali und Salz AG, now K+S Aktiengesellschaft. In addition, he was Chairman of executive management at Kali und Salz GmbH from 1993 until 2001. After studying Business Administration and Economics at the Universities of Bonn, Cologne and Mannheim he subsequently obtaining a Doctorate (Dr.rer.pol) from Universitaet Mannheim in 1971.